Archive for the ‘RHS Field Hockey’ Category

In an epic rematch of the first- and second-seeded teams in the Class B Section field hockey championship at Manhattanville College, the Garnets lost another heartbreaker, 1-0, to nemesis, and defending State champion, Lakeland. For the second straight year, the Hornets took the measure of Rye, scoring in the gloaming of the second half on a smash by standout Emma Bozek.

Garnets defend a short corner in the first half

While Rye stars Emma Brinkman and Annie VanWagenen were slowed by ankle injuries, the Garnets dominated the first half of play and even managed to put the ball in the back of the net with less than 90 seconds to play. The goal was disallowed, however, because a Lakeland player deflected the shot from outside the circle.

Give Rye field hockey’s Emma Brinkman two minutes, and she’ll deliver the victory. The junior scored three goals in a matter of 113 seconds in the Class B Section quarterfinals November 2, removing any doubt from what was a one-score game. The second-seeded Garnets went on to defeat No. 7 Walter Panas 7-0, and remain undefeated at 17-0 heading into the semifinals with sixth-seeded Pleasantville post press time.

Emma Brinkman is congratulated after one of four goals

Rye was locked in a tightly-contested 1-0 game until Brinkman detonated with little over 10 minutes remaining in the first half. Careening through traffic like a bike messenger, Brinkman scored her first goal on an assist from Claire O’Callaghan. She was at it again one minute later, weaving her way into a nest of defenders to connect on a Katie Killup assist. Finally, with 8:43 left in the first half, Rye’s leading goal scorer stuffed in a Killup rebound that gave her team a 4-0 lead and demoralized the Panthers.

Ever get in the way of a fireball? The answer for most is likely a big ol’ “negatory”, but that’s not the case for goaltenders who have had the misfortune of facing off against Annie VanWagenen and the Rye field hockey team.

Michele Mulhearn, G.G. Fitzgerald, and Annie VanWagenen

VanWagenen put the Garnets up 3-0 less than five minutes into her team’s eventual 6-0 win at home against Byram Hills October 18. The junior star scored twice on short corners, the orange ball coming off her stick like a comet streaking across the starry sky.

With one minute left in October 5’s field hockey game between Rye and Rye Neck, the Garnets possessed a 20 to zero advantage on short corners, and had forced the Panthers’ goalkeeper to make 23 saves. Despite statistics so overwhelmingly in favor of Rye, the numbers on the scoreboard – the only ones that matter – read 1-1.

The Garnets finally pulled ahead with 42 seconds left, when junior Emma Brinkman banged a shot past Yasmina Gourchane in heavy traffic to secure a 2-1 victory at Rye Neck. Brinkman’s goal, her second in the game, preserved Rye’s undefeated record (8-0).

“We came out flat in the beginning, but our girls didn’t give up until the final whistle,” said head coach Emily Fitzgerald. “It was the first time all season we trailed in a game, so it’s good that the girls got to know that feeling. They had to dig down deep while playing on a wet field.”

The Empire Strikes Back isn’t headed back to the theatres any time soon, but it could play out on local fields as several fall programs seek to correct the way their seasons ended in 2009.

Football

No Syracuse. No Kingston. Not even a trip to Mahopac for the Section championship. Rye’s stunning, last-second loss to Poughkeepsie in the 2009 Class A Section semifinals silenced Nugent Stadium as never before and caused reverberations that are felt to this day.

But this is a new year, and the latest model of gridiron warriors to sport the legendary Garnet and Black colors are itching to exact revenge on all who reveled in schadenfreude after their shocking playoff elimination.

In the final game of her collegiate career, Yale’s Ashley McCauley – a 2006 Rye High graduate – broke the Ivy League school’s three-decade-old career field hockey scoring record.

With one point for an assist and two for a goal, McCauley entered the game one point shy of Emily Montgomery’s longstanding mark of 98, but finished Senior Day in style November 7 by tying the record with an assist and then hitting 100 on a goal in the Bulldogs’ 6-2 victory over visiting Brown. The win was a Yale-record sixth in Ivy League play. They completed the season 12-5 overall and 6-1 in the conference, and also set a school record for points in a season (142).

Ashley McCauley (dspics.com)

“I knew I was one point away, but I was really just focused on getting the win,” said McCauley. “Our games against Brown went terribly the last two years, so this one was particularly important to the team. The coolest part is definitely that we were able to go 6-1 in the Ivy League, something that Yale hasn’t done before. The record is truly a testament to the entire team.”

It was a weekend of ups and downs for our local teams in playoff competition.

The Rye girls’ soccer team finished the 2009 season unbeaten at 17-0-3 and won a share of the Class A Section title. In a painstaking turn of events, however, they did not advance from Saturday’s Class A Section title game and will be unable to defend their State championship. Second-seeded Eastchester moved on by edging the Garnets in penalty kicks at Yorktown High School. Rye had taken a 1-0 lead with 23 minutes to go, but the Eagles quickly responded six minutes later.

Lia Bellizzi

Rye’s field hockey team also fell in their Section championship game. Top-seeded Lakeland defeated the No. 2 Garnets 3-0 for the B title at Manhattanville Sunday. The Hornets and Rye met in the first game of the season, with the Garnets erasing a 3-0 lead to finish with a 3-3 tie. Lakeland clamped down yesterday, and there was no comeback in the cards for Rye.

For the second consecutive year, the Rye girls’ soccer (17-0-2) team is going back to the Class A Section final. The Garnets — reigning State, Regional and Section champs — defeated fifth-seeded Byram Hills 3-1 at home. Lia Bellizzi, Natalie Moore, and Maddy Chabot scored for top-seeded Rye, and Tatiana Saunders made six saves in net. Now the Garnets will face No. 2 seed Eastchester Saturday at Yorktown High School in the Class A finale. Rye has not lost in 25 games dating back to last season’s postseason title run.

The Garnets are headed back to Yorktown

Unfortunately, the Rye boys’ soccer team was not able to defeat Byram Hills in the Class A Section semifinal. The fourth-seeded Garnets (9-4-5) lost 1-0 to No. 1 Byram Hills on the road. Head coach Jared Small e-mailed over the following:

It’s rare to have a freshman who contributes to a varsity squad in any sport. A team that has one considers itself fortunate, because the talented neophyte may well blossom into a transcendent star. Two freshmen making significant contributions is off the charts.

In 2006, Rye’s field hockey team had two of these special athletes – Olivia Nabhan and Torie Stearns. Today, in their fourth and final season as Garnets, the senior captains are nearing the end of a run that can be best described as triumpant. Rye has posted a combined record of 71-7-2 with one New York State championship (2007) and four League titles since Stearns and Nabhan first donned varsity uniforms.

Torie Stearns and Olivia Nabhan

“The secret to the team’s success is just playing as hard as you possibly can,” said Nabhan, the tough-as-nails firecracker. Stearns, the liquid-smooth scorer, finished her teammate’s thought. “It’s about running until the clock stops and always believing you’ll find a way.”

As you can read in the three posts previous to this, Rye’s teams — field hockey and girls’ and boys’ soccer — swept the Election Day Sectional Tripleheader at Nugent Stadium yesterday. No game was lacking drama. Each went to overtime, where the Garnets eventually prevailed and advanced in their respective tournaments. Check out the stories and leave your comments!

Unfortunately, Rye’s volleyball team was ousted from the Class B Section quarterfinals on the road at Hen Hud. The Garnets — seeded ninth — fell to the top-seeded squadron 3-0 (25-8, 25-9, 25-13).

The sixth-seeded Rye Neck boys’ soccer team took advantage of another home game; they ousted No. 14 Pleasantville 3-1 to advance to the Section semifinals. Adam Gutierrez scored two goals and Phillipe Adam chipped in the Panthers’ third. Amazingly, Rye Neck will get to host the semifinal game because No. 7 Bronxville upset Westlake in their quarterfinal.